Cross bearer for railway cars



June 12, 1934. w. F. KIESEL, JR

CROSS BEARER FOR RAILWAY CARS Original Filed March 7, 193-1 By W A TTORNEYS.

cocoa Patented June 12,1934

UNITED STATES CROSS BEARER FOR RAILWAY CARS William F. Kiesel, Jr., Hollidaysburg, Pa.

Original application March 7, 1931, Serial No.

520,797. Divided and this application April 30,

1932, Serial No. 608,428

This invention relates to cross bearers for railway car underframes and while it is particularly useful in its application to gondola cars, especial- 1y to relatively long low-sided gondola cars, the invention may be used to advantage in other types of railway cars. The present application constitutes a division of my pending application for U. S. Letters Patent, Serial No. 520,797, filed March '7, 1931 wherein there is disclosed a complete freight car construction including cross bearers identical to the cross bearer selected for illustration and description herein as an example of the practice of my invention.

One object of my invention is to provide a cross bearer substantially in the form of a rectangular girder which can be fabricated as an integral or one-piece casting and which, while possessing ample strength as a truss subjected to various tension and compression stresses, is nevertheless so designed as to the distribution of metal as to be relatively light in proportion to strength.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide in such a cross bearer vertically disposed end members which are adapted to abut against the side walls along a substantial vertical portion thereof and to be rigidly attached to 'the side walls and to the stakes at the bolster ends, thereby adequately bracing the side walls against lateral spreading.

Other more specific objects and advantages characterizing my invention will become more fully apparent from the description hereinafter of one embodiment or example of my invention, having reference to the accompanying drawing, whereof Fig. I represents a side elevation of one end of a gondola with a portion of the side wall broken away to show the position of one of the cross bearers.

' Fig. II represents an enlarged cross section of the car taken as indicated by the lines IIII of Fig. I; and

Fig. III represents an enlarged perspective view of one of the cross bearers.

In. the drawing there is shown one end of a relatively long low sided gondola car comprising generally a center sill l with body bolsters 2 for supporting the side trusses 3 on the center sill near the ends thereof and with cross bearers 4 for supporting intermediate portions of the center sill upon the side trusses 3. While only one end of the car is shown in Fig. I, it may be assumed that the other end of the car is identically similar. Each side truss 3 comprises generally a top chord 5, a bottom chord 6 and side 7 Claims.

stakes '7, 8, 9 and 10 somewhat differing from each other in form, connecting the top and bottom chords at intervals of their length. The side Walls comprise plates 11 which are riveted to the top chords 5, to the bottom chords 6 to the side stakes 7, 8, 9 and 10, and to the ends of the body bolsters 2 and cross bearers 4.

In the car selected for illustration it will be noted that the bottom chords 6 of the side trusses 3 extend vertically downward substantially below the floor level of the car at the regions over the trucks, and a greater amount at the region between cross bearers, with the side walls correspondingly deepened, thus producing what is known as fish belly construction.

As shown in Fig. II the top chords 5 of the side trusses are suitably in the form of Z-bars with their web portions 17 disposed horizontally and riveted to flanges 18 at the tops of the side stakes 10. A downturned flange 19 on the inside of each top chord 5 is riveted to the inner side of a side stake 10 with the rivets also passing through the plates 11 forming the side walls of the car. At the outside of each top chord 5 there is an upturned flange 20 which serves as an abutment preventing transverse shifting of bearing pieces when the car is carrying superimposed loads. Such bearing pieces may be securely fastened to the top chords 5 by means of clamp members passing through perforations 21 in the webs 17. The bottom chord 6 of each side truss '3 is suitably made in the form of a bar of rectangular cross section with the long axis of its cross section disposed in a vertical plane. Throughout a portion of its length, that portion in which the bar is deflected downward beneath the plane of the ends of the bolsters 2, the bar is reinforced by an additional flat bar 22 disposed at the inside of the bar 6. As shown in Fig.

II,'the two bars 6 and 22 engage between them The top, bottom and end members thus form a one-piece rectangular trussed construction having an opening for the reception of the center sill with the upper and lower members in parallel relation, and with the end members disposed at right angles thereto. Diagonal stiffening members 50 arranged in spaced relation transversely of the car converge from the upper corners of the rectangle toward the lower central portion thereof.

At its central portion each cross bearer 4 is formed with a saddle 51 upon which the bottom flanges 26 of the center sill beams 24 rest and are secured by rivets, the saddle portion being braced by vertical ribs 52. A continuous marginal flange 53 extends entirely around the cross bearer 4. To the flange 53 the floor plates 46 at the bottom of the car and the side plates 11 and side stakes 10 are riveted. A longitudinal cover plate 54 is riveted to the floor plates 46, as well as to the top flanges 25 of the center sill beams 24, and thus the top member 49 of the cross bearer 4 is indirectly riveted to the center sill 1. The top member 49 forms the compression member through which the weight of the center sill 1 is trans- 'mitted to the side trusses 3. Moreover, the top member 49 has inwardly projecting free edges 7'7 which terminate short of the center sill, and there is'rprovided a butt weld at 55 in the gap between the free edges 7'7 and the outer edges of the top flanges of the center sill beams 24, whereby compression strains at a cross bearer are transmitted through continuous metal in alignment and with substantially uniform surface.

In addition to the diagonal stiffening members 50, which are provided with reinforcing flanges 56, there are also provided relatively short vertical struts 57 which connect the diagonal members with the top member 49 and brace the freely projecting portions of the latter member. Preferably the cross bearer 4 is fabricated with the diagonal members 50, the struts 5'7 and the vertically disposed portions of the top, bottom and end members 49, 48 and 76 arranged as parallel webs spaced longitudinally of the car in the manner clearly shown in Fig. II.

Furthermore the various members which make up the one-piece cross bearer 4 as thus arranged define open spaces represented at 58, 59 and 60, which serve to lessen the weight of the cross bearer. An additional opening 61 is provided in the central portion of the bottom transverse member 49. By reason of their construction as described above, the cross bearers 4 are relatively light and yet amply strong enough to transmit the loads on the center sill 1 to the side trusses 3. The continuous marginal flange 53 affords at the top member 49 a horizontal flat surface for supporting the floor plates 46, and at the end member '76 this marginal flange affords vertical flat surfaces abutting against substantial portions of the side walls 11 of the car and to which the side walls 11 and side stakes 10 are adapted to be directly attached.

It will be seen that the cross bearer construction as described above affords a rectangular girder between side trusses which, differing widely from the usual form of cross bearer, abuts against and is attached'to a relatively large vertical portion of the side trusses below the floor line of the car, this being of special advantage in relatively long cars where it is desired adequately to resist the tendency of the side trusses to spread at the central portion of the length of thecar.

While I have described one particular form of cross bearer and one example of the manner in which such a cross bearer may be embodied in a railway car it will be readily apparent that various changes may be made in the described construction without departing from the spirit of my invention as defined in the annexed claims.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: 1. A one-piece rectangular cross bearer for a car underframe including a bottom tension-member a top member and a diagonal member connecting the bottom tension member with the outer end of the top member, said top member terminating in a free edge near the center of said cross bearer. 2. A one-piece rectangular cross bearer for a car underframe including a bottom tension-member, a top member, a diagonal member connecting the bottom tension-member with the top member at the outer end thereof and a substantially vertical strut connecting said diagonal and top members, said top member terminating in a free edge near the center of said cross bearer.

3. A one-piece rectangular cross bearer for a car underframe including a continuous bottom tension-member extending from car side to car side, a discontinuous top member having inwardly projecting free edges near the center of the cross bearer, and diagonal members connecting the bottom tension-member with the outer ends of the top member.

4. A one-piece rectangular cross bearer for a car underframe including'a continuous bottom tension-member extending from car side to car side, a discontinuous top member having inwardly projecting free edges near the center of the ice cross bearer, diagonal members connecting the bottom tension-member with the outer ends of the top member, and substantially vertical struts connecting said diagonal members with said top member.

. 5. In a railway car including sides and a floor,

a one-piece cross bearer supporting the car floor and positioned above the lower extremities of the car sides and extending transversely from one side to the other, said cross bearer comprising a top member, a bottom tension-member extend=- 1 ing beneath the car center sill and supporting the same, and vertical end members connecting said top and bottom members, the end members being adapted for direct attachment to the car sides.

6. In a railway car including side Walls and a floor, the side walls extending below the level of the bottom of the center sill at the central portion of the length of the car, a cross bearer of integral formation extending transversely from one side wall to the other, said cross bearer having a top flange supporting the floor and vertical end flanges abutting against the side walls, and having a bottom tension-member extending beneath the center sill and supporting the same.

'7. In a car construction including side walls and floor plates, the side walls extending below the level of the bottom of the center sill, a one piece cross bearer having a top member support- WILLIAM F. KIESEL, JR. 

